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Night Shade
Night Shade is a proud warrior who once served in the Equestrian military. A unicorn stallion practically indistinguishable from his comrades, he presently can be found amongst the ranks of the Royal Guard. Physical Appearance At first glance, Night Shade looks no different from any other unicorn amongst the Royal Guard—armored in the golden helmet and plating that is his uniform, his blue eyes, dark coat, and white-colored mane and tail seem completely ordinary. Yet, as one looks closer, one notices some discoloration amongst his features: his dark coat is darker than that of a typical unicorn guard, his eyes have a tinge of violet, and his mane is more accurately ivory-colored. Although he brushes regularly, Night Shade's mane always winds up somewhat messy, as he tends to suffer from "helmet hair." His cutie mark, hidden beneath his armor, is the black, blurry outline of a pony running full-speed, barely visible against his coat. Weapons/Abilities Night Shade is a bit of an improv warrior—what he lacks in spear proficiency, he makes up for in strategic capability. He has a tendency to get a weapon from his surroundings, and fight with it until it no longer works. Like most combat-ready unicorns, he knows a generic magical blast spell or two, but he tends not to rely on them, as they do little damage and serve the purpose of knocking out weakened foes. Physically, he is somewhat weak, though he is very light on his feet. Night Shade's signature spell, however, makes up for any deficiency he might have in combat. Night Shade can generate sustained shadows around himself at any time, even in broad daylight. Using such spells renders him virtually invisible, though he can still see his foes clearly thanks to his keen eyesight. However, Night Shade will require more effort in his spells the brighter light he has to "cancel," meaning he will often not leave shadows up for long. Personality Night Shade is what some might refer to as a hopeless romantic. He sometimes daydreams about himself performing the typical knightly acts of chivalry—jumping in front of the Princess to save her from a magical blast, appearing from the shadows to stab at the villain just in time—but others believe that, given the opportunity, he would fail to do so. He has a tendency to get lost in thought, which many of his coworkers chastise him about. Being from the Equestrian military, he has an aloofness around his coworkers, and, in truth, he lacks friends amongst the Royal Guard. Backstory Night Shade was born and raised in Canterlot proper, and may have remained incredibly sheltered and ignorant, had his parents not sent him to a public education. In school, he knew not what sort of people were the best kind of people, and thus found himself hanging out with all sorts of crowds, from the desirable to the unsavory to the downright strange. It was there that he learned about the dark underbelly of Equestria, of border skirmishes with griffins, of violent dragon evictions, of rebel groups that had to be stopped by none other than the Equestrian military. Night Shade became infatuated with the unsung heroes he heard about, thinking to himself that someone ought to sing about them. It was around this time that he developed his talent for remaining out of sight, which quickly gave rise to his cutie mark's appearance. Night Shade continued through school, graduating with no notable honors, and promptly enrolled himself in more classes, teaching self-defense both physically and magically. When a major battle between griffins and ponykind threatened the harmonious ways of the Equestrian homeland, recruitment stations began to appear, and he was amongst the first to sign up. After his training, he was dropped unceremoniously in foreign lands, where he engaged enemy forces several times in hoof-to-claw combat. Perhaps his most notable accomplishment was a mission of espionage, in which he made off with enemy intelligence which, upon delivery, completely thwarted the would-be raid on Fort Dawn. When the war was over, after three bloody years, Night Shade's military troop was dissolved, and, finding he could do not much else but fight, he found his way into the ranks of the Royal Guard. Used to military life, he had a hard time reintegrating into society. He can still be found there, seemingly blending in but still slightly awkward, longing for a day when he can serve his country once again. Trivia/External Links Trivia Origin One day, while writing for a Friendship is Magic fanfiction (Which remains unfinished and under wraps), in which mind control played a heavy role, I had a Royal Guard in the streets of Canterlot act as a sort of "demonstrator" of aforementioned mind control to the Mane Six. It wasn't until after the fight concluded and he was freed from the outside influence that I realized I had just introduced a character who was liable to become important, if for no other reason than by the sole virtue of being there. Night Shade was promptly imagined on the spot. Category:Male Category:Team Dean: The One-Man Army Category:My Little Pony Characters